Over 500 people participated in the "Rosa Parks National Day of Absence Against Poverty, Racism and War" march that began on Dudley Street in Jamaica Plain and went all the way to City Hall in Boston flanked by two rows of police on bikes and motorcycles. The march had an impressive concurrence from the black community and was well received by people who waved, hand-gestured for peace, and honked their cars on the streets. The highlight of the day was when marchers reached Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and exchanged calls of solidarity with dozens of students hanging from windows, shouting "Rosa Parks! Rosa Parks!" but were not allowed to join the crowd. Inspirational speakers for the day included Chuck Turner, Charles Yancey, Felix Arroyo, Rev. Franklin Hobbs, Minister Rodney Muhammad, and local activists.

On Oct. 26, the Boston City Council passed a 13-0 resolution in tribute to the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' defiance to segregation in the US, and encouraged businesses and schools to close for the day of December 1st. Activists in New York, Baltimore and Detroit also organized events and hope to get a similar resolution passed in their cities.

Over 500 people participated in the "Rosa Parks National Day of Absence Against Poverty, Racism and War" march that began on Dudley Street in Jamaica Plain and went all the way to City Hall in Boston flanked by two rows of police on bikes and motorcycles. The march had an impressive concurrence from the black community and was well received by people who waved, hand-gestured for peace, and honked their cars on the streets. The highlight of the day was when marchers reached Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and exchanged calls of solidarity with dozens of students hanging from windows, shouting "Rosa Parks! Rosa Parks!" but were not allowed to join the crowd. Inspirational speakers for the day included Chuck Turner, Charles Yancey, Felix Arroyo, Rev. Franklin Hobbs, Minister Rodney Muhammad, and local activists.

On Oct. 26, the Boston City Council passed a 13-0 resolution in tribute to the 50th anniversary of Rosa Parks' defiance to segregation in the US, and encouraged businesses and schools to close for the day of December 1st. Activists in New York, Baltimore and Detroit also organized events and hope to get a similar resolution passed in their cities.

Comments

thanks chris. there must be a lot more pics out there- let's see em!
the event was great, largest turnout of young people and people of color i have ever seen in boston. let's build on these successes!

I work near Government Center and I could hear folks from the rally held there for over an hour! When I stepped outside and walked around the corner to see the gathering it was huge, with over a hundred people crowded around a loudspeaker. People on the street were stopping each other and asking what the event was about. When they heard "Rosa Parks", they would smile and listen for a few moments before moving off about their business. It was nice to see that even folks who have to work were able to appreciate those folks who were able to take time off to commemorate this woman and the issues that her memory help bring to light in the modern day.

a fitting tribute would be to use dec. 1 as a day to concentrate on teaching the kids about the bill of rights, the constitution, the declaration of iddependence. they should apply to all of mankind! not just some citizens.an anti-bully day.

Rosa Parks came across as a very dignified woman. But, the people you have on your front page are dressed like slobs. If you want to recognize a dignified woman, at least respect yourselves and dress appropriately.

It's great to see morons flashing gang signs in your pictures. Great way to show respect for Rosa Parks. It was also a great idea to have the people who are the in the greatest need of getting an education skip a day of school. BTW, how many people in the crowd had criminal records ( refer back to flashing gang signs) ?

[Ed. This post was originally hidden because of concern over possible racial stereotypes. It has been unhidden by editorial consensus in the hope that the points raised can be discussed civilly in relation to the parent article. Before responding please ask yourself is my comment civil, and does it add new information to the discussion.]

"It's great to see morons flashing gang signs in your pictures. Great way to show respect for Rosa Parks. It was also a great idea to have the people who are the in the greatest need of getting an education skip a day of school. BTW, how many people in the crowd had criminal records ( refer back to flashing gang signs) ?"

unfortunately even after so much work goes into organizing a positive and constructive celebration of an under-celebrated hero like rosa parks, people find ways to justify their racial bias by clinging to one tiny negative in a sea of successes. first of all there were plenty of other beautiful people in the pictures you forgot to mention. the kids in the picture flashing the hand signs are KIDS. they may or may not take part in some street corner gathering of kids the police call gangs, but even if they do, there are so many reasons to be proud of the fact that they came to a rally for this middle-aged woman who sat on a bus 50 years ago. that they came is in itself a victory aginst the vast forces pushing ignorance and darkness in the name of profit (tv, hollywood, the big record labels, racist textbooks, etc.). people join gangs because the traditional family and community structures and economic opportunities many of the rest of us take for granted are woefully inadequate for them. i'm not saying gangs are great for kids to join obviously, just trying to suggest reasons why a 13 year-old with dad in jail and an alcoholic mother might want to find a crew of friends with similar experiences whom she can hang out with. the fact that they sometimes do things which are harmful to themselves and their communities has a lot to do with the nature of their environment, and consequently indicts the larger society which tolerates some communities being obscenely wealthy and others on the edge of third-world poverty. and then there's the possibility that these kids were just acting silly as kids are known to do once in a while, making signs and pretending to be 'noriega' or 'escobar' while cheesing for a camera. your denial of the power of this rally because people taking part in it might have records is at best classic spin, and probably something much more ominous.

as for taking kids out of class, i know teachers who spent the morning talking about rosa and the significance of her actions, and about the connections between the civil rights struggle and continuing poverty in communities of color today, and about how the nation's priorities are focused on fighting this insane war instead of providing survival support to people like the kids in the picture. after that they brought their classes to the rally as an educational experience, since learning doesn't only happen in the classroom as some uptight boston racists will have you believe.
the event was packed with high-school age people of color mostly from poor communities in dorchester, roxbury, jamaica plain, etc. this is in itself a huge step forward, and a way to educate young people about the importance of demonstrating their freedom of speech and assembly, as well as empowering them to get involved in more community events and organizing. when we enlarge our circles we get stronger, and the opinions of people like these 'morons flashing gang signs' are just as legitimate as anyone else's. in fact, especially since people of color are in the majority in boston, i'd say i value them more than those of boston's racist assholes, who these days are conspicuously in the MINORITY.
move over pal, this is the new face of boston (and the country)- either deal with it or get stuck in the stinking mud of the bussing era riots and the ongoing profiling and denial of our neighbors' humanity.

by the way, i'm glad this comment, as ignorant as it is, was unhidden. it isn't overly racist or disruptive, only exposes how people can twist good things to fit their preconceived notions of what they should be.

I took the pictures. They are not gang signs. They are the Boston sign. I think its called 3 for the stripe. Its based off the popularity of adidas sneakers here, hence 3 stripes, get it? It is in fact racist to assume that becase people are not white and making gestures with their hands it is gang-related. If it was some white frat kid making a hang loose sign or the heavy metal horn sign no one would charge then with being gang members. I think lots of these posts are spurred by fear of the reality an organized movement of the dispossessed. If you know there is no way to justify the advantages you were given (white privilege) then you fear any movement that will untimatly seek to remove you unjustifiable privileges. Look out Robert E. Lee cause we are going to be coming Nat Turner style. Peace to the Peaceful!

I want to thank the editorial board for keeping R. Lee's post for all too see. Is his posting a racial sterotype or just an observation? As a layman, my first impression was that they were flashing gang signs too. That may or may not be the case, but who fueling the sterotype? The observer or the sender?

Mr. Williams assertation that it is racist to assume this is in itself an a poor argument. Pulling the race card shows poor critical thinking. The "hang loose" sign is more in common and easily recognizable than the sign for Boston.

Also Mr. Williams you've shown no evidence that R. Lee is afraid of an organized movement at all. Would your sterotype of him be considered racist? Or would your sterotype of alleged white privilege be considered racist?

For all we know he could have been born and grew up dirt poor in the US or in some other place in the world. Furthermore, how do you know that he white? Another assumption/sterotype not based in any fact.

On a historical note, Robert E. Lee was opposed to slavery and considered it an abomination.

"I want to thank the editorial board for keeping R. Lee's post for all too see. Is his posting a racial sterotype or just an observation? As a layman, my first impression was that they were flashing gang signs too. "

What led you to the conclusion that they were gang signs? Because they're unfamiliar? Because you assumed those people were in gangs? Seems like you made the latter choice to me. And what type of layman are you? Did you grow up in the same neighborhood as the people at the march? From your response it seems like no, and that instead you're stereotyping these people (as R. Lee did) as gang members because of race.

"That may or may not be the case, but who fueling the sterotype? The observer or the sender?"

The observer. Neither you nor R. Lee took the time to analyze what the symbols actually meant. R. Lee just made assumptions and put them out as facts. He purported stereotypes. How would the observer put forth the stereotype? By making signs with their hands? Are youth of color not supposed to make signs with their hands, lest they come off as making gang signs? That's ridiculous.

"Mr. Williams assertation that it is racist to assume this is in itself an a poor argument. Pulling the race card shows poor critical thinking."

News flash, racism is still alive and well in America. To call people on racism is not a sign of poor critical thinking. I feel like Christian Williams put forth a pretty good reason for calling R. Lee racist: he assumed that since it was youth of color that they were making gang signs when making signs with their hands. Ignoring the racist tone of R. Lee's email shows a lack of critical thinking. Acting like we're in some sort of color-blind existence is showing a lack of critical thinking. Calling R. Lee out for using race as a factor for deciding that those people were inherently making gang signs when making a gesture with their hands shows solid critical thinking.

"The "hang loose" sign is more in common and easily recognizable than the sign for Boston."

For whom? For you? Do you think if you went around at the march and showed people the "hang loose" sign and the sign for boston that people would overwhelmingly recognize the "hang loose" sign? I question that assertion. A pretty big unsubstantiated assumption you're making.

"Also Mr. Williams you've shown no evidence that R. Lee is afraid of an organized movement at all. "

Mr. Lee came on the message board and starting spouting racist, belittling comments. Why? I feel like thinking that he is afraid of the movement and thus is talking shit is a pretty fair analysis. There's been lots of cases of that happening in the past.

"Would your sterotype of him be considered racist?"

Nope.

"Or would your sterotype of alleged white privilege be considered racist?For all we know he could have been born and grew up dirt poor in the US or in some other place in the world. Furthermore, how do you know that he white? Another assumption/sterotype not based in any fact."

Nope. Sure, I don't know everything about R. Lee because he's just a handle on indymedia, but it tends to be white people who identify with Confederate Civil War generals. C'mon. When was the last time you met a non-white person that identified so strongly with General Lee that they felt they should use his name as a handle. Are you going to claim it's unfair to think that someone who uses the handle "Trotsky" isn't communist?

On a historical note, Robert E. Lee was opposed to slavery and considered it an abomination.

The civil war wasn't fought over slavery. There's an amazing history of working-class farmers forming cross-race aliances in the south during reconstruction. Unfortunately, the Southern elite managed to use racism to destroy these aliances.

The "hang loose" sign may indeed be more “common and easily recognizable” to WHITE people living in Boston. But that is because it has been popularized by WHITE mass media culture. Do not assume this to be true for non-white people living in the area.

Your assumption about what is "common and easily recognizable" is racist in and of itself.

if i remember correctly, after his second coronation, bush jr gave the 'texas longhorns' sign to a camera, similar to the hang loose sign, and the national tv station somewhere in scandinavia (norway maybe?) gave that a lot of attention since there it's a symbol of satanic worship...

rosa parks was a true person who should never be forgotten what, she started should never end because without her we wouldnt have what we have today.FREEDOM. There still are some racist white people but at least the arent't alot. thank you rosa parks for changing this world and making it a better place. You and your work will never be forgotten by any of us. Rest.In.Peace